"Yes, I know. Insult the ambassador of the United States of America at your peril!"
McGrory heard himself raising his voice and immediately put his wineglass to his lips and discreetly scanned the restaurant to see if anyone had overhead his indiscretion.
"The question is," Silvio said, reasonably, "you have to make the decision whether what happened is worth, in the long haul, having you recalled for consultation. Or if there is some other way you can let them know you're justifiably angry."
"They left my office, Juan, let me tell you, knowing that I was pretty damned angry."
"Oh?"
"Yes, they did. I told Alvarez in no uncertain terms that what they had done was tantamount to accusing me, and thus the government of the United States, of not only conducting an illegal operation but of lying about it and that I was personally and officially insulted, and then I said, 'Good morning, gentlemen, this visit is terminated.'"
"Well, that certainly let them know how you felt," Silvio said.
"And they're really going to be embarrassed when they finally realize that what happened out there was drug connected and their idea that Green Berets were involved was simply preposterous."
"If that's what happened, Mike, you're right."
"And if I take this to Washington," McGrory said, "by the time they actually get around to recalling me for consultation Alvarez more than likely will come to me with his tail between his legs to apologize. I'll accept it, of course, but I'll be one up on him, that's for damned sure. There's no sense bothering the secretary with this."
"I agree," Silvio said and picked up the bottle of Tempus and poured wine into both their glasses.
When they tapped glasses again, McGrory said, "I really appreciate your advice, Juan. Thank you." [SIX] Office of the Ambassador The Embassy of the United States of America Avenida Colombia 4300 Palermo, Buenos Aires, Argentina 1605 5 August 2005 "That's essentially what Howell told me, sir," Alex Darby said to Ambassador Silvio, "that Ordonez found the cartridge casing, put it together with the chopper's skid marks and all those bodies, and decided it was something more than a robbery."
"Ambassador McGrory is now just about convinced it was a drug shoot-out," Silvio said. "I sowed the seed of that scenario and he really took it to heart. Between you and me, Alex, I felt more than a little guilty-ashamed of myself."
"Sir, you didn't have much of an option," Darby said. "Castillo was operating with the authority of a Presidential Finding. He had the authority to do what we did and not tell McGrory about it."
"Granting that," Silvio said, "I still felt very uncomfortable."
"You shouldn't feel that way, sir. With all due respect to Ambassador McGrory, can you imagine how out of control things would get if he knew? Or worse, if Castillo had gone by the book and asked his permission?"
Silvio didn't respond to that. Instead, he asked, "Where in the world did Castillo get that helicopter? I asked him, but he evaded the question."
"So did I and he wouldn't tell me, either. I didn't know about the money either."
"You don't think that it will be traceable?"
"The money or the helicopter?"
Silvio chuckled and shook his head. "Both. Neither."
"The helicopter, no. Castillo filed a local flight plan from Jorge Newbery to Pilar, closed it out over Pilar, and then flew over there about five feet off the water. He came back the same way, then got on the horn over Pilar and filed a local flight plan to Jorge Newbery. Nothing suspicious about that."
"If somebody had the helicopter's numbers," Silvio said, "it wouldn't be hard to learn whose machine it is, would it?"
"I thought about that, sir, and decided it was information I would just as soon not have."
Silvio nodded. "You're right, of course. What about the money?"
"Before this happened, Yung was working on finding Americans-and other people-who had decided to secretly invest money down here. I don't know who he was doing that for, but he wasn't just looking for dirty money being laundered. He is therefore an expert on how to move large amounts of money around without anyone knowing. I suspect the reason Castillo sent him back down here was to make really sure there are not racks."
"I think Ambassador McGrory is going to give him a hard time when he gets to Uruguay. For concealing his special status from him. And I find myself thinking McGrory has the right to be annoyed."
"He shouldn't be annoyed at Yung," Darby said. "Yung was just following orders."
"That 'just following orders' philosophy covers a lot of sins, doesn't it?"
"Mr. Ambassador, I'm pretty sure before you tell somebody something, you consider who you're telling it to, how trustworthy they are. And that's how it should be. I've never understood why people don't seem to understand that works both ways."
"I'm not sure I follow you, Alex."
"How much the guy in charge-a corporal in a rifle squad, a station chief in the agency, an ambassador-gets told, official rules be damned, depends on how much the underling thinks the guy in charge can be trusted."
Silvio considered that a moment and then said, "I have to ask, Alex. How much do you tell me?"
"When I got here, Mr. Ambassador, based on my previous experience with people in your line of work, I was careful when I told you what time it was. After a while, when I got to know you, I started telling you everything."
"Thank you," Silvio said, simply.
"Mr. Ambassador, I'd like to get on a secure line and let Castillo know what's happened in Montevideo and here."
"He should know, of course, and right away. But I can do it, Alex. You don't have to."
"Why don't you let me do it, sir?" Darby replied. "I don't feel guilty about going behind McGrory's back."
"Ouch!" Ambassador Silvio said. He paused thoughtfully. "Obviously what has happened, Alex, is that my close association with you has corrupted me. I just realized that I was happy that you offered to make the call. Thank you."
He pushed the secure phone toward Darby.
VI
[ONE] Executive Offices Gossinger Beteiligungsgesellschaft, G.m.b.H. Fulda, Hesse, Germany 1105 6 August 2005 Otto Gorner, managing director of Gossinger Beteiligungsgesellschaft, G.m.b.H., reached for his private line telephone with his right hand without taking his eyes off the editorial on his desk. It was anti-American, blasting the President of the United States of America personally and the policies of the U.S.A. generally.
He had known from the first couple of sentences that he would not permit it to run in any of the Tages Zeitung newspapers. The author would then think-and more than likely share with his peers-unkind thoughts about the Amizaertlich editor in chief of the Tages Zeitung newspapers for killing a well-thought-out piece about what the Gottverdammt Amis had done wrong again.
By the fourth paragraph, Gorner had realized-with some relief-that he would have killed the piece anyway based on its departure from what he regarded as the entirely Germanic editorial principles of the newspaper chain-in essence, to be fair-and not solely because running it would have offended the Ami who was the sole stockholder of Gossinger Beteiligungsgesellschaft, G.m.b.H.
"Gorner," he growled into the telephone.
"Have you got any influence with the storm trooper guarding the parking lot?" a very familiar voice inquired in English. "He won't let me in."
"Speak of the devil," Gorner said.
"Is that a yes or a no?"
"Put him on, Karlchen," Gorner said as he rose quickly from his desk and went to his window, which overlooked the parking lot.
Carlos Guillermo Castillo, born Karl Wilhelm von und zu Gossinger, was standing by the red-and-white-striped barrier pole to the parking lot and extending a cellular telephone to the guard there of.
As the guard some what suspiciously put the cellular to his ear, Castillo looked up at the window, saw Gorner, and blew him a kiss. The guard followed that gesture, too, with interest.